Hurricane Dorian Relief for the Bahamas: What Funders Need to Know

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In the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) recently hosted a webinar to discuss the role of philanthropy in providing relief for the Bahamas. Keep reading to learn what you can do to be an effective donor.

What to Give

Give cash: This is a universal rule of disaster giving. Money is always needed and provides the greatest flexibility for recipients. When it comes to giving to islands, cash is even more important because the location presents unique logistical challenges when it come to aid.

The limited waste disposal systems on islands mean that pallets of water bottles and other items can end up staying on the islands for hundreds of years. These islands are already dealing with the debris crisis caused by the storm, so donors would do well to remember not to compound these challenges.

Seaports and airports become bottleneck points as people and goods struggle to get to their destinations all at once. In-kind donations often go to waste because they get lost or ruined, or simply aren’t items that are needed.

If you want to provide in-kind donations, seek specific requests: Thing like water filtration systems can be invaluable to certain communities, but be sure to find out exactly what kind (size, power source) will be appropriate. Only send things that are specifically requested.

Where to Give

Give close to the ground: When it comes to rebuilding communities, the most qualified people are the community members themselves. The Disaster Philanthropy Playbook’s Strengthening Local Humanitarian Leadership Philanthropic Toolkit is designed to help funders improve their giving by ensuring that communities are in charge of their own fate.

Choose qualified organizations: The government of the Bahamas has created a registrar of each organization and individual working on disaster recovery on the islands. Make sure that any organization you give to is on this list or has plans to get on this list. To make things easy, Interaction has created this list of vetted international organizations working to help the Bahamas recover.

When to Give

Now: Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas early in the 2019 hurricane season. It’s not unlikely that the islands will be subjected to another hurricane in the very near future. For this reason, immediate funding is needed to prepare the island for the possibility of another disaster. It is important that donors giving in the early days focus on funding projects that make sense now and later. Long-term solutions need to be implemented quickly; this is not the time for stop-gaps that will compound the islands’ problems in the future.

And later: Traditionally, giving peaks immediately after a disaster and then tapers off. Recovery from Hurricane Dorian is expected to take thirty years. If you don’t feel ready to give yet, make a long-term plan for supporting the recovery after other donors have moved on. The CDP 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund will focus on the medium- and long-term needs of the Bahamas and other areas affected by the 2019 hurricane season. CDP recommends that funders use this opportunity to collaborate with others and pool funds in order to provide multi-year funding to the organizations that will be in the Bahamas for the long haul.

Giving Compass' Take:
• Writing for Philanthropy News Digest, McCormick Foundation's Rebekah Levin talks about what makes a good evaluation in the nonprofit world: Keep things detailed!
• Are we good at making self-assessments and applying lessons beyond the initial scope of a given project? If not, the more practice doing evaluations, the better.
• Here's why racial equity impact assessments are a must.
I believe strongly in the power of excellent evaluations to inform, guide, support, and assess programs, strategies, initiatives, organizations, and movements. I have directed programs that were redesigned to increase their effectiveness, their cultural appropriateness, and their impact based on evaluation data; helped to design and implement evaluation initiatives here at the McCormick Foundation that changed the way we understand and do our work; and have worked with many foundation colleagues and nonprofits to find ways to make evaluation serve their needs for greater understanding and improvement.
One of the best examples I've seen of excellent evaluation within philanthropy came with a child abuse prevention and treatment project. The initiative was so successful that the participating nonprofits decided to continue to work together beyond the initial scope of the project to improve their own programs and better support the children and families they serve.
But what does it take for an evaluation report to be worth my time?
It has to be an evaluation and not a PR piece. If I don't see critical concerns/problems/caveats identified, I tend to assume that I'm not getting the whole story and the report's value to me drops precipitously.
It has to provide relevant context. This significantly improves the possibility that the knowledge is transferable to other settings.
It has to be clear and detailed about the populations being served. Too often, I read evaluations that leave out critical information about who was targeted, participated, or served.
The evaluation's methodology must be described with sufficient detail. This is so I have confidence that its design and implementation, as well as the analysis of the data, were skillful and appropriate.
Must be easy to find.
When the above conditions are met, the answer to the question, "Are evaluations worth reading?" is an unequivocal "YES!"
Read the full article about evaluations worth reading by Rebekah Levin at Philanthropy News Digest.

Looking for a way to get involved?

If you are interested in Disaster Relief, please see these relevant events, training, conferences or volunteering opportunities the Giving Compass team recommends.

Are you ready to give?

In addition to learning and connecting with others, taking action is a key step towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact for Disaster Relief take a look at these Giving Funds, Charitable Organizations or Projects.